Champions League Matchday 2 schedule: 18 games across two nights
Key takeaways
- Matchday 2 of the Champions League runs on Tuesday, October 13 and Wednesday, October 14.
- A total of 18 games take place across the two nights, nine on each night.
- The biggest ties are Atletico vs Man United on Tuesday and Man City vs PSG on Wednesday.
The Champions League is back this week. Matchday 2 of the league phase runs on Tuesday and Wednesday. A total of 18 games take place across the two nights.
Each night has nine games. Two early games kick off at 18:45 CET. The other seven start at 21:00 CET.
CET means Central European Time. Fans in Pakistan can add three hours to get PKT times.
Here is the full schedule and what it means.
What happened
Matchday 1 set the tone in September. The league phase kicked off on September 8. It runs until January 27, 2027. That is what UEFA lists on its fixture page.
Some big teams started with big wins. Manchester United beat Sabah 4-0. Bayern Munich beat Bodo/Glimt 5-0. Barcelona beat Feyenoord 5-1. Paris Saint-Germain beat Slovan Bratislava 6-1. Those results came from UEFA's official results page.
Other games were much closer. Real Madrid beat Inter 2-1. Liverpool beat Atletico Madrid 2-1. Arsenal beat Napoli 1-0. Sporting CP beat Galatasaray 3-1. Those teams all banked three points on Matchday 1.
A few games ended level. Fenerbahce drew 1-1 with Roma. PSV Eindhoven drew 1-1 with Shakhtar Donetsk.
Como beat RB Leipzig 4-1 in one of the shocks of the round.
Now Matchday 2 is here. Tuesday, October 13 brings nine games. The early kick-offs are Lens vs Sporting CP and Sabah vs Slavia Prague.
Both start at 18:45 CET.
The seven late games on Tuesday start at 21:00 CET. They are Arsenal vs Lille and Atletico Madrid vs Manchester United. They also include Inter vs Club Brugge and Galatasaray vs Barcelona.
The last three are Leipzig vs PSV, Viking vs Bayern Munich, and Villarreal vs Napoli.
Wednesday, October 14 brings nine more games. The early kick-offs are Feyenoord vs Como and LASK vs Liverpool. Both start at 18:45 CET.
The seven late games on Wednesday start at 21:00 CET. They are Roma vs Real Madrid and Aston Villa vs Fenerbahce. They also include Shakhtar vs AEK Athens and Bodo/Glimt vs Dortmund.
The last three are Man City vs PSG, Real Betis vs Porto, and Slovan vs Stuttgart.
In the United States, the games stream on Paramount+. NBC Sports reports that some games also air on CBS Sports Network. Kick-off times in the US are 12:45 PM ET for early games and 3:00 PM ET for late games.
ET means Eastern Time.
Why it matters
Matchday 2 matters because the table starts to take shape. The Champions League now uses a league phase. All 36 teams play in one big table.
There are no groups anymore. Each team plays eight games against eight different opponents.
Teams get three points for a win. They get one point for a draw. They get zero points for a loss.
The table ranks teams by points. Goal difference breaks ties. Goal difference means goals scored minus goals conceded.
After eight games, the top eight teams go straight to the round of 16. The round of 16 is the first knockout round. Teams ranked 9th to 24th enter play-offs. The play-offs decide the other eight spots in the round of 16.
Teams ranked 25th or lower are out. Their European season ends. NBC Sports explains this format on its schedule page.
World in Sport notes the same rules in its Matchday 2 preview.
Early wins build a cushion. A team with two wins from two games sits near the top. A team with two losses faces real pressure.
Matchday 2 is early, but it is not too early to matter.
Tuesday has two games that stand out. Atletico Madrid host Manchester United. United won 4-0 on Matchday 1. Atletico lost 2-1 to Liverpool.
United want a second straight win. Atletico need points at home.
Galatasaray host Barcelona in the other big Tuesday tie. Barcelona won 5-1 on Matchday 1. Galatasaray lost 3-1 to Sporting CP. Barcelona want to keep their fast start.
Galatasaray want a home win in front of their fans.
Arsenal host Lille on Tuesday too. Arsenal won 1-0 at Napoli on Matchday 1. A home win would give them six points from two games. That would be a strong start for last season's beaten finalists.
Wednesday has the biggest game of the round. Manchester City host Paris Saint-Germain. Both teams won big on Matchday 1. City beat Porto 2-0. PSG beat Slovan Bratislava 6-1. The winner takes a big step toward the top eight.
Real Madrid travel to Roma on Wednesday. Madrid beat Inter 2-1 on Matchday 1. Roma drew 1-1 with Fenerbahce. Madrid will want a second win.
Roma need a result at home.
Liverpool travel to LASK on Wednesday. Liverpool beat Atletico 2-1 on Matchday 1. A win in Austria would give them six points. LASK lost 1-0 to AEK Athens in their opener.
For fans who want the United angle in full, we have a dedicated preview. Man United face Atletico in Madrid on Tuesday night. And Man City's 3-0 win over Liverpool shows why City are title contenders again.
What happens next
After Matchday 2, the table will start to sort itself out. Teams with six points will sit near the top. Teams with zero points will sit near the bottom.
The middle of the table will be packed.
Matchday 3 comes on October 20 and 21. UEFA lists the fixtures on its official page. The headline tie on Matchday 3 is Paris Saint-Germain vs Barcelona. That game takes place on Tuesday, October 20.
Other Matchday 3 ties include Bayern Munich vs Arsenal on Wednesday, October 21. Real Madrid face RB Leipzig that night too. Como host Manchester United in the early slot. Lille host Galatasaray in the other early game.
The league phase runs until January 27, 2027. Teams have six more rounds after Matchday 2. There is time to recover from a slow start. But every point counts in a single table. A bad night can cost a team a top-eight spot.
Fans should watch the early games closely. Lens host Sporting CP in one early tie on Tuesday. Both sides won their openers.
The winner of that game will sit on six points. Sabah host Slavia Prague in the other early game. Sabah lost 4-0 to United on Matchday 1. Slavia lost 3-2 to Lens.
On Wednesday, Feyenoord host Como in an early game. Feyenoord lost 5-1 to Barcelona on Matchday 1. Como beat Leipzig 4-1. The other early game is LASK vs Liverpool. Liverpool are favourites, but away games in Europe are never easy.
The late games will draw the biggest crowds. Atletico vs United, Galatasaray vs Barcelona, and Man City vs PSG are the headline acts. But the table can turn on any game.
A surprise win for a small side can shake up the whole race.
For the full season picture, UEFA's fixture page lists every game through January. The play-offs and knockout rounds follow after the league phase. The final takes place in June 2027.
Fans who want more football can read our other explainers. Newcastle Jets face Gamba Osaka in a cross-continent friendly preview. The Champions League week continues on Wednesday with nine more games.
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